The following discussion of the background to the invention is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention. However, it should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgment or admission that any of the material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge in any jurisdiction as at the priority date of the application.
Reticulating air conditioning/heating systems, such as those found on most mobile equipment, rely on a vacuum being created to draw air through the evaporator/heater cores. However, the creation of this vacuum inherently leads to the ingress of airborne contaminants, including dust.
To try and minimise this from occurring, such systems also employ extensive sealing structures. These sealing structures have proven to be difficult to adequately maintain.
Previous attempts to introduce filtration systems, such as High Efficiency Particle Air (“HEPA”) filters, into such air conditioning system has also proven problematic. One key problem faced by such systems is that they work on the assumption that contaminants will not enter the vehicle cabin and thus only air drawn from the external environment need be filtered. This does not account for airborne contaminants which may enter the vehicle cabin by way of the ingress and egress of an operator or passenger. It also does not account for contaminants which may later become airborne after detaching from an operator or passenger's clothing.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system which overcomes, or at least ameliorates in part, the abovementioned problems.